


Lean on Me

by idolhands



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-12 06:05:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7923409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idolhands/pseuds/idolhands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Spoilers for Season 4*<br/>Based around an idea I had after watching season 4 when Mike and Mona are together. I got thinking, what if it wasn't Mona but a different A Team ex-member. Thus this fic was born, also I know this is definitely a crack ship, I have no idea why my brain did this.<br/>Lucas and Mike meet in the new therapy group and discover that they're attracted to each other. Sadly, not everyone takes it that well. Bit slow burn I guess.<br/>Also, this is my first fic on AO3 so apologies for bad titles/tags/formatting. I'm also British so I'm sorry if it doesn't read as American as I wanted it to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Talk about it.

Mike was just rushing to History when the email pinged up on his phone, it was from the school administration titled ‘Therapy’. Great, they just wouldn’t leave him alone. He pulled up the email expecting the usual crap “show up on time blah blah your next appointment is blah blah”; instead it was a notification that a new councillor would be joining the school after Mr Fiscelli had retired. Mike couldn’t wait, the old councillor had been a balding man in his late fifties who just looked at you pityingly and always asked “are you okay” in a patronising voice as he passed you in the halls as if all of his students were on the cusp of a mental breakdown at all times. With any luck this new guy would be cooler, then again Mr Lindall sounded like another Fiscelli only someone who thought he could be ‘down with the kids’ to try and talk to students. Apparently he’d been through the files and handpicked students to attend group therapy sessions as well as the one-on-ones that Mike was already saddled with; great, that’s just what he needed ‘let’s pick the problem kids to talk through their shitty lives with each other’.  
So that’s why three days later Mike was stood in front of the councillor’s office instead of at home working on his mountain of homework. He pushed open the door and was pleasantly surprised to see not an old man but instead a fairly attractive thirty something with curly hair and a jelly bean dispenser where the old filing cabinet had been.  
“Hey, it’s Mike, right? Some people are already here,” he greeted, “Help yourself to jelly beans or a soda and go straight through.” Mike grabbed a few beans and then slouched through to the adjoining room. It used to have pure white walls and a wooden floor, a huge desk and two straight backed chairs but now the walls had been recovered in posters, mainly of indie rock bands, and the floor had been strewn with fluffy rugs and beanbags.  
He recognised two other people, the girl with the red hair and sweater vests in summer that used to have the appointment before him and the guy that Aria’s friend Hanna used to hang around with, the dark haired one with the camera. Luke? Lewis? Wait, no..Lucas, that was it. Mike waved a hand in greeting and then slumped into a tie-dye bean bag under the cover art of Fall Out Boy’s latest album. Mike had to admit, the man had taste.  
Three more people arrived, two guys and another girl, and then Mr Lindall announced that it was time to start, “Okay so as you can see I started up this little group I guess to help you all. I know that sometimes you might want to come to me and other times you might not because it’s too awkward or whatever so I thought that if you all got to know some of your peers then it might help a little,” he pulled an armchair into the middle and sat down, “We should probably get to know each other a bit more, I thought we could go around the circle and say our names and a bit about ourselves as well why we’re here but there’s no pressure to share if you don’t want to. I’ll start: my name is Jesse Lindall but Jesse is fine, I’m the new guidance councillor here. I chose the job mainly because I want to help people but also because I’m ADHD and I know how hard it can be to be a young person and struggle with something like that.” With that he turned to the red-head.  
“Julia Burns, I like painting and animals. I’m here because I’ve had anorexia for two years now, I’m slowly getting over it but it’s taking time.”  
“Good, nice. Next?”  
“Lucas Gottesman although most of you probably know me as Hermie the Hermaphrodite,” he scowled at the floor and his voice just radiated bitterness, Mike hated to admit it but the unique nickname had popped in to his head when he’d first walked in and he couldn’t help wondering if that was why he was here, “I work on the yearbook and in my spare time I read comics and manga. I’m here because I had- I have a gambling addiction. I’ve also got social anxiety and by the way I feel I should clarify that I’m not actually intersex, that’s just a rumour.”  
Jesse just nodded and then gestured to Mike, “Mike Montgomery, I’m on the lacrosse team and I play basketball. I’m depressed and I also have anger management problems.”  
They all went around the circle like that, Mike had to suppress a snort, it was like some kind of twisted AA meeting. Although he had to admit it felt kind of comfortable, he’d not exactly tried to make new friends in a while and he’d always seen sharing problems as embarrassing but this felt almost friendly, like every word was bringing them all closer.  
After that Jesse encouraged them to talk about their progress, “Yeah, well everything’s fine I guess,” Mike hedged, “There’s still bad days like...” he trailer off.  
“Like what, Mike? No one’s going to judge you here,” Jesse encouraged.  
“I had a wobble last night whilst I was writing an essay and it might have led to a few tears that’s all,” he muttered, looking down at the floor as he felt the back of his neck flush.  
“Crying’s not a problem, Mike; we all get upset it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”  
“Yeah, but, I don’t know I guess it’s just hard for people like me to show emotion. I mean, I’m a teenage guy on the sports team, we’re all supposed to be these big alpha male macho men and it’s just really hard to deviate from that, you know.” Everyone around the group nodded.  
“I get that,” one of the guys agreed, he’d come out as transgender a few minutes before, “I feel like now I’m transitioning I have to be really manly and if I start getting emotional them everyone will just go straight back to saying that I’m a girl.”  
After that, the discussion flowed a bit more easily: about problems, about school, hobbies, bands, just anything that came to mind. It only seemed like a few minutes when Jesse announced that the minute was up, “Okay, guys, we’ll meet back here same time next week if that’s okay with everyone?” Everyone just nodded and filed out.  
Okay, maybe Mike had been wrong, this group could turn out to be a good thing after all.


	2. Knight in Shining Sneakers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter this time. Mike and Lucas get closer and we get an Ella moment as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God guys, I can't believe I got 9 hits OVERNIGHT! Thank you all so much!  
> Also, I apologise if the 'knight' in the title is too soon after 7x10 :-) It killed me too

The group had been going on for a few weeks now and they were all getting closer, sharing their problems did kind of help make him feel a bit less alone. It also helped that he only saw Jesse once a week but he could wave to the other students every day, it made him feel like there really was a constant help that was always there for him. But he usually didn’t even think about the group too much in the week until he heard some guys from the Basketball team laughing in the corridor. He shut his locker and looked up to see Lucas carrying a huge stack of pictures and forms from a classroom before one of the jocks barged into him, sending all of the papers whirling through the air and settling on the grimy floor.

                “Oops, sorry Hermie,” the ringleader mocked, “Maybe if you were a real guy I might have seen you there.” Lucas didn’t even respond but Mike could see the flush rising past the collar of his shirt and he swore that he saw Lucas wipe his eyes whilst he gathered up his stuff.

                “Hey!” Mike yelled and the whole corridor turned around to look at him, including the group of guys, “The hell do you think you’re doing?”

                “What the hell do you care, Montgomery,” one of the boys piped up from the back.

                “Maybe I just don’t like you acting like dicks to everyone,” a hush settled on the corridor.

                “Why are you sticking up for Hermie? He’s probably not even a real guy.”

                “Well maybe if _you_ were a real guy you’d pick on someone your own size, asshole,” he snapped back.

                “Oooooooohhhhh burn!” some kid yelled from the crowd behind Mike. Sensing that the tide had turned, they slumped off, heir arms swinging loosely at their sides like gorillas. Mike knelt down next to Lucas and helped him gather up the last few photographs.

                “Thanks,” the other guy muttered.

                “No problem, those guys are jerks, don’t let them get to you,” he passed the photos back, “These are actually really good, I mean not that I’m surprised or anything.”

                “Well, it’s not like I have anything better to be doing in my spare time,” Lucas sighed, “Hey, do you want to come back to mine sometime. Today after school, maybe? I mean, if you want to, it’s fine if you don’t or whatever.”

                “I’d love to but I have lacrosse practise tonight. Tomorrow maybe?” Lucas nodded, “Can I have your number? So we can work on arrangements and stuff.” Lucas rattled off the digits like the prodigy he was and then left.

                “Sorry, I just really need o get these down to the office before next period,” he yelled over his shoulder.

***

                “Mike!” Ella called over her shoulder from the kitchen when she heard his kitbag hit the floor.

                “Mhm?”

                “Me and Aria were going to go to the cinema tomorrow night, do you want to come with us?”

                “No thanks,” he replied, “I’m going to a friend’s house after school.” He tried not to give away more details than were strictly necessary. Lucas had let slip that he didn’t really speak to Hanna anymore so he didn’t know if Aria would approve.

                “That’s nice,” she said, picking her words carefully, “You’ve not gone over to someone else’ since before all the problems and, you know...”

                “You can say depression, Mom, it’s fine. I don’t mind,” he reassured her as she looked on, surprised to say the least, “I gotta go finish an essay for tomorrow.” As he dragged his stuff upstairs he couldn’t help thinking about what he’d just said. His mom’s surprise was understandable, a few months ago he’d have bitten the head of anyone who’d mentioned it but now everything just seemed okay, like it wasn’t a big secret anymore.


	3. Angels' Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike goes to Lucas' house and things...escalate :-)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to space the uploads out e.g. one w week or something just so that there's not a massive gap whilst I write the second half but I couldn't resist putting up chapter 3 early.

Lucas stood by the doors, tapping his foot. He wasn’t going to pretend, half of him was convinced that he was about to get stood up. Well, not stood up, that would imply that they were on a date and they were most certainly _not_. Even if they were going to be in Lucas’ room, alone, together, and if Mike Montgomery happened to be scarily attractive. Lucas shook his head, he needed to be able to think straight, no pun intended.

                A cough behind him made him spin around to see Mike behind him, rolling his shoulders, “You okay? You look surprised, is it still okay for me to come over?”

                “Yeah, yeah, of course. To be honest, though, I wasn’t expecting you to show. People don’t generally want to be seen coming anywhere near me,” he stopped talking, why was he spilling all of this? It was like all the group sessions had permanently disabled his filter.

                “Hey, it’s cool,” Mike whacked his shoulder in what was probably meant to be a friendly way, “I didn’t leave the house for about six weeks, I’m about as surprised as you are.” By now they were at Lucas’ car, a sensible five-seater Volkswagen in black, “You have a car?”

                “This is my mom’s, I borrowed it. Normally I skateboard but I wasn’t sure how to get you home on that.” They both laughed, even though it had been a pretty stupid joke.

                Lucas wasn’t a liar, that car ride was awkward but they were home in minutes so it didn’t really matter. Once he’d got the door open he crossed to the kitchen, grabbed a few sodas and cookies and led Mike upstairs to his room.

                “Just sit wherever,” he indicated as he cleared a space on a low table to put the snacks on.

                “Lucas....” Mike asked, sounding worried. Oh God, Lucas was almost certain that he’d hidden the Fairy Tail body pillow, “Why is there a poker site open on your computer screen?” Shit he’d forgotten to shut it down properly this morning.

                “I...well..you know I was just..” he stammered.

                “Dude, we’ve told you how dangerous these sites are, you need to stop doing this to yourself.” Mike grabbed the mouse and logged him out then shut down the site.

                “I know,” Lucas sighed, “But I just couldn’t resist having one more try.”

                “Well no more ‘tries’, alright? Find new sites to spend time on that won’t make Jesse want to kill you over your search history.”

                “Trust me there are way worse results in my search history,” Lucas’ brain short circuited, why would he even say that?

                Mike had picked up on the implications, “Lucas, I am shocked,” he replied in mock horror, “And there was me thinking that you were some kind of angel,” he shoved him playfully and Lucas shoved him back, starting a game of tag.

                “No one’s an angel.”

                “I’m beginning to see that,” Mike chuckled then realised he was still holding on to Lucas’ shoulder. He went to pull it back but he moved to fast and his muscles started cramping again, making him hiss.

                “You okay?”

                “Yeah, I just forgot to warm down after lacrosse yesterday.”

                “And there was me thinking that you were just blowing me off,” Lucas replied, moving to stand behind him. Mike saw the opportunity to point out the innuendo but he bit his lip, “Hey,” Lucas asked, “Do you mind if I try something?”

                “No go for it,” Mike replied feeling a bit confused when Lucas laid his hands on his shoulder blades. Then, without warning, he pushed down, massaging the muscles and Mike groaned, it felt so good.

                Lucas bit his lip when he heard the noise that escaped from Mike’s mouth, no, he needed to stop thinking like that, it was just a natural reaction to the muscles being rubbed.

                “Where did you learn this?” Mike asked, breathing deeply.

                “A friend taught me,” Lucas decided to be vague, the less they spoke about that time in his life, the better.

                “Should I be jealous?” Mike teased and then shut his mouth quickly, why had he said that? It wasn’t like he had any right to be jealous. As he got lost in his thoughts, he forgot to think about his legs and on the next more forceful push he nearly stumbled over, it was only Lucas’ hand on his abdomen that kept him standing.

                Oh my God, Lucas thought, he has really nice abs. Breathing in deeply, he knew that he’d made his decision, he needed to go for it and see what happened. “You know, it might be easier for you if you led on the bed. Also, maybe if you took your shirt off? If you’re okay with that, I mean, I don’t want to be weird or anything.”

                “No, it’s fine,” Mike added, pulling his T-shirt slowly over his head, he wasn’t going to lie, he was putting on a show. He strode over to the bed and led face down, he could hear Lucas walking near him, hesitantly, “Hey, it’s okay man, we’re friends, right?” Lucas’ jeans came into view as he felt the pressure return to his shoulders; he’d thought that sports massages were meant to be painful but this was almost blissful. He didn’t even notice when the next moan tumbled out of his lips, he was so wrapped up in pleasure. Just then, Lucas lost his footing and nearly fell on his back.

                “Sorry, it’s pretty hard to reach your other shoulder, would it be okay if I just...” he didn’t even know how to finish that sentence so he just put a knee up on the bed and then swung his other leg over so he was knelt up, straddling Mike’s hips. The other boy didn’t say anything and his body didn’t tense up so Lucas figured that he was in the clear.

“Yeah, that feels so much- oh- better,” Mike panted at the increased pace. Lucas was so glad that no one else was in the house, if his parents walked in now this would definitely be misconstrued; Lucas was actually kind of hoping that it would be, by Mike. The guy was attractive and the whole positioning of the activity was definitely a bit erotic, he could almost feel himself getting a bit light-headed as his blood rushed south. He tried to keep himself knelt high up so that Mike wouldn’t notice but the temptation to just lean down was becoming unbearable.

Mike was also starting to feel the effects, at first he’d thought that the frisson of electricity down his spine was just from the muscles relaxing but he was beginning to suspect that something else was going on. His groans were becoming louder and more passionate as the vertical movement of his shoulders was spreading to his entire body causing his ever increasing hardness to rub up on the sheets.

Lucas’ knees were starting to shake with the exertion of kneeling up and all of a sudden they gave way and he fell, pushed flush against Mike’s back. He felt Mike stiffen and he tried to push himself up, “I’m sorry, really I...”

“Don’t apologise,” Mike gasped as he pushed up his hips to meet Lucas’. It only took a few seconds for him to cave and use his abs to flip himself over so that he was staring at Lucas’ slightly shocked face before grabbing him behind the head and pulling him into a passionate kiss.

Lucas’ brain was still catching up so when Mike grabbed him, he fell down again, his body pressing up against him in all the right places.

Eventually they had to come up for air, this was also when Mike’s brain decided to kick in and realise what he’d just done. He couldn’t help remembering Lucas’ shocked face, “Dude, I’m sorry.”

“Why,” Lucas asked from his new position lying next to him.

“You just looked so shocked, I didn’t mean to make you do anything that you didn’t want to do. Especially before asking if you were actually...y’know.”

“I was surprised, yeah, but not because I didn’t want to. It’s just that you’re so hot and I can’t be the only other gay, bi or pan guy in school, you could have had your pick of anyone and I don’t know why you’d go for me,” he admitted, fussing with his sleeve. He didn’t know why he was so nervous, after what he’d just done, this conversation was the least embarrassing thing from the last half hour.

“Lucas,” Mike whispered, pulling the other boy’s head up to face him, “I choose you because you are smart and cute and funny and an absolute nerd and I love it.” Mike kissed him again chastely on the cheek. He considered moving in for the kill again but a voice sounded from the bottom of the stairs.

“Lucas, you home?”

“Yeah, mom I’m up here. Mike’s here as well.” Lucas yelled back before getting up to grab his soda and then sitting on the bed with his back against the wall, “So normally I would love to continue what we had going on before but I’d really rather not with my mom next door.”

“No, I get that,” Mike grinned, “But I feel like we should, you know, discuss it.”

“Sure, um, well I’ve already said that I like you. So would you like to go out sometime? On a date?”

“I would love to,” Mike laughed, “Actually, I’m having a party on Saturday, my parents are out and Aria probably won’t be in so I thought I’d have some friends over. Will you come?”

“Sure but do you thing we could keep this,” Lucas motioned between the two of them, “Private for now? My parents don’t know and you know how word travels in this town.”

“I was actually going to ask you the same thing,” Mike admitted, “Especially with me being on the lacrosse team we might want to leave it for a while. It could make the locker rooms a bit awkward.” He leaned closer to Lucas and slung his arm around his shoulders, “So, what do you what to do for a few hours.”


	4. Sibling Rivalries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike invites Lucas to his party to spend more time with him but Lucas has a run in with Aria whilst he's there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow guys I am so sorry for how late this update has been. I've been super stressed recently with college and everything but I swear that, hopefully, they should be more regular from now on.

Saturday rolled around and Lucas had spent the last hour deciding what to wear; a fairly new experience from a guy who usually just grabbed a clean set of jeans and yesterday’s t-shirt then left the house. He’d managed to track down the skinny jeans that his mom had bought him a few months ago, they’d probably cut off the blood supply to his legs but ,oh well, sacrifices had to be made. Sadly, a choice of shirt was proving to be more elusive, it was a house party so a button down was probably too much but that left him with deciding between two t-shirts: one with the Zelda triforce emblazoned on the front and the other one saying ‘Eat, Sleep, Raid, Repeat.’   
“You’re an absolute nerd and I love it.”  
He could hear Mike’s voice in his head and he couldn’t help smiling, he knew that they couldn’t appear too friendly tonight but at least he’d be a friend and Mike wasn’t totally excluding him. Hmmm, Zelda shirt it was then, it was about three years old so it would at least fit tightly; although it’s not like he had a killer six pack to show off, unless you were counting the Pepsi that he was talking with him.   
Lucas got there early so when Mike opened the door there was no one else there. He stepped in, showing the drinks, “I brought stuff just in case you hadn’t had time to grab some.” Walking across the room, he placed them on a side board to distract him from Mike’s delectable outfit choice of the skinniest jeans he’d even seen and a tight long sleeved shirt that clung to every single muscle, “You look...nice,” he observed lamely, feeling the colour rise in his cheeks.  
“Not too bad yourself,” Mike replied, running a hand along his stomach before pulling him into a kiss, “I’ve missed you.”  
“Mike, you saw me yesterday,” Lucas pointed out.  
“Yeah, twice, as we passed in the corridor. It’s been at least three days since I got to touch you.” Lucas could feel Mike’s hand descending from his waist past his hips.  
“Yeah well you might have to wait on the touching front,” Mike pulled away slowly, “The others are going to be here in about five minutes and you left the curtains open.”  
“True,” Mike pecked him on the cheek one last time and then pulled away fully, “At least after this we can hang around at school together. And after that, who knows,” He smiled and then went to the fridge pulling out salsa and beer.  
Within about fifteen minutes, people had started to arrive, Mike opened the door to see Noel stood out the front with beer and some friends. “Hey Montgomery,” he greeted staring into the house, “Wait, is that Hermie? What’s he doing here?”  
“We got introduced by people at school, he’s actually not that bad. Just play nice okay, I don’t want a fight,” Mike tried for his most pleading puppy eyes.  
“Yeah sure whatever.” After a few rounds of Call of Duty, apparently Noel agreed that Lucas was a nice guy, especially after he thrashed the current high score. Pizza had been ordered and eaten, loads of people were here and no one was arguing, Mike had to call his first house party a success. He saw Lucas heading upstairs out of the corner of his eye and he excused himself from he conversation to follow him.  
Lucas was heading up the stairs when Mike caught up to him, “Hey, is everything going okay?” his boyfriend asked, looking a bit concerned.  
“It is, actually. Don’t say I told you so but your friends aren’t too bad when you get to know them.” Mike had opened the door to his bedroom and beckoned him in.  
“I just realised that you’ve never been in here,” Mike pointed out before pulling him into a kiss.  
“Mike,”  
“Yeah?”  
“I love you and everything but your breath tastes like a brewery. Also, you might what to go downstairs again, I think I saw Courtney and Harry from Spanish making out on a desk.”  
“What!” Mike shot out of the room and flew downstairs. He only just made it down in time to see that Aria was home and breaking up the party. Shit.  
“Mike!” she yelled.  
“Yep, I’m here.”  
“What the hell is this? I’m supposed to be responsible for you, you can’t just throw a house party!”  
“In my defence, there wasn’t meant to be this many people. Just don’t tell mom and dad, okay? I’ll get everyone out.”  
“Yeah, you’d better do,” with that Aria walked up the stairs to her room but she nearly bumped into someone on the landing, “Sorry. Wait, Lucas?”  
“Oh, hey Aria, Mike said you weren’t coming home tonight.”  
“You were here for the party? You don’t even know Mike.”  
“We have mutual friends,” Lucas threw his hands up in defence.  
“You don’t have any friends,” Aria snapped back, “Why are you even up here?”  
“I was going to the bathroom, is that illegal now? I’m guessing you broke up the party, I’ll just go.” He gave her one last glare before he left, God why did she have to hold so many grudges!  
When he got downstairs everyone else had left so he slipped behind Mike to rest his head on his shoulder, “I’d love to stay but your sister doesn’t seem to keen on me being here.”  
“Just ignore her. Anyway, I’ve got a ton of cleaning up to do so I’ll see you tomorrow?”  
Lucas agreed and gave Mike a quick peck on the cheek before he let himself out.


	5. Cinnamon Rolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria rips into Lucas again but thankfully Mike is there to pick up all of the pieces. Also, sleepover.

He didn’t even get to see Mike before lunch. The younger boy was leant against one of the pillars on his phone, “Hey,” Lucas called as he came over, “Is it okay for me to come over?”  
“Yeah sure, after the party everyone seems to have accepted that we’re friends now. Sadly, I still can’t kiss you right now,” Mike looked at him with that cute little grin and it took all of Lucas’ self control not to kiss him anyway.  
“All good things come to those who wait,” Lucas replied, his voice full of promise, “My parents are out tonight, do you want to come over after school?” Mike knew that it was probably just an innocent offer of maybe takeout and a movie but he couldn’t help running through the options in his head, “My mom actually said you could stay over, if you wanted.”  
“Oh, I want to,” Mike reassured him, “I’ve got a free next I can run home and grab my stuff. Meet by the steps after last period?” He couldn’t believe how much he wanted to lean in and kiss Lucas in front of everyone, “I’ll be looking forwards to it.”  
“Look, I have to go but,” Lucas made a gesture like he was going to hug him and then he thought better of it and dropped his arms as the two parted ways.  
***  
Lucas headed towards the cafeteria to grab lunch when Aria stopped him, “Okay, stop, what the hell are you up to?”  
“Excuse me?”  
“Drop the innocent act and tell me why you’ve suddenly decided to befriend a tenth grader,” Aria honestly looked angry enough to hurt him right now.  
Lucas sighed, “Yeah, Jesse said this might happen.”  
“Jesse, who the...”  
“The new guidance councillor AKA the best thing to happen to this school since they upgraded the Wi-Fi. He’s sees through the bull and he’s got a skill for pairing up people that actually have things in common,” Lucas thought he could see where this was going now.  
“Right, so you definitely don’t have an agenda because you know a while back you teamed up with someone pretty dangerous and tried to ruin me and my friends’ lives.”  
“I’ve got an agenda?” Lucas felt like screaming, he couldn’t believe this, “Aria if you don’t recall, I was being blackmailed too, I took the smart way out because unlike you some of us don’t have friends to protect us,” Lucas had to take a deep breath, he hadn’t meant to say that much, “As for befriending people it’s not like you’d know about that considering that after everything I did for Hanna, you and your little clique froze me out and now even she doesn’t speak to me anymore.”  
“I might not know much about ‘befriending’ people, as you put it,” Aria spat, “But I know that my brother is way too high up in the food chain to get dragged down by Hermie the Hermaphrodite.” With that she turned on her heel and walked off.  
Lucas could feel the backs of his eyes prickling, wow that had actually hurt a lot more than he’d thought it would. Screw this, he was going home.  
***  
Mike waited by the steps, he’d been here for about twenty minutes and Lucas wasn’t answering his calls. Finally, he scrolled through his phone until he found ‘Gottesman Home’, he’d found it in the phone book and saved it just in case. He pressed call and then held it to his ear, Lucas’ mum picked up on the second ring.  
“Hi, Mrs Gottesman, it’s Mike, Lucas’ friend. We arranged to meet up after school but he hasn’t shown up. Is he at home?”  
“Yes,” her voice sounded strangely guarded, Mike couldn’t help the shiver down his spine, oh god, she’s found out, “Have you two had a fight?”  
“What? No, I last saw him at lunch and everything was fine,” Mike was confused now, “Why?”  
“He came home and looked really upset, I thought he’d said Montgomery but maybe I was wrong,” she sounded much friendlier now, “Why don’t you come over anyway? He could use the company right now and his father and I are going out for dinner.” With that she hung up and Mike set off walking, thankfully the school was near all the houses so it only took a few minutes.  
Knocking on the door, Mrs Gottesman opened it and Mike was struck by how similar she was to Lucas, they had the same curly hair, sparkling eyes and sweet smile, “Come in, Mike, he’s upstairs. Oh and Honey, if he tells you what’s happened can you tell me, I left my number on the kitchen counter? He hasn’t spoken since he got home.” With that she smiled again, grabbed her purse and left.  
Mike half ran up the stairs and barged through the door. At first he thought that the bed was empty, then he realised that the pile of blankets was actually a sniffling Lucas.  
“Baby, what’s wrong,” he tried to pull Lucas into a hug but he moved away.  
“Why are you here?”  
“I called your home number and your mom said you were upset, I was worried.”  
“No, why are you here as in why are you dating me, why are you even friends with me?” He asked through heavy sobs.  
“We’ve been through this, you are amazing and I want you more than anyone.” Mike finally succeeded in pulling Lucas the blanket-sausage into a sitting position next to him.  
“Really, because your sister disagrees. In fact, I think she said you’re too ‘popular to be dragged down by Hermie the...” he choked on the last word, he just couldn’t say it out loud.  
Mike swore, “Why can’t she just keep her damn mouth shut and let me be happy? Lucas, listen to me, what she said is absolute bull. I love you and she doesn’t have the right to speak for me and get in the way of us. Okay?”  
If Lucas had any lingering doubts that Mike wasn’t being honest, they fled once he looked at his face. Mike looked crushed, like even the idea of them not being together really upset him, “Okay,” Lucas whispered, scared that if he spoke too loud then he’d ruin the atmosphere. Mike pulled him into a kiss, it was lingering and meaningful but if was more sweet than passionate, like Mike was trying to show Lucas just how much he loved him.  
“So, you stop being a fluffy hotdog and I’ll grab takeout menus,” Mike suggested, going downstairs to the kitchen. When he got down there he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Mrs Gottesman, ‘Something happened at school, all sorted now - Mike’ and then returned upstairs.  
“Okay we can either watch a film or play Wii,” Lucas asked, “Also, can we get Chinese? I really feel like a chow mein right now.”  
Two hours later they were sat on the bed surrounded by takeout boxes whilst Mike got his ass kicked on Mario Kart, “How are you so good at this?” he cried as he got pushed off the Rainbow Road again.  
“I spent a lot of time playing this alone,” Lucas admitted, grinning as he passed the finish line for the last time. Mike shoved his arm and he shoved back until they were wrestling on the bed.  
“I’ve got you,” Mike triumphed s he sat on Lucas’ hips, pinning his wrists to the pillow in one hand and he reached down to kiss him. Just as their lips were about to touch, Lucas managed to slide out from under him and pushed Mike down so he was sat next to him again.  
“Don’t try and cheat, we’ve got another race to go yet,” he teased and leaned over to peck Mike on the lips, “However, once we’ve finished the races we could....”  
“I’m not sure I want to hear that.”  
Lucas’ head whipped towards the doorway, “Mom! When did you get home,” his face had gone completely white.  
“About a minute ago, the film finished and the restaurant that we were going to go to managed to accidentally delete our booking so we thought we’d get takeout. Is there something that you’d like me and your dad to know?” Mr Gottesman had appeared in the doorway by now.  
Lucas cleared his throat, he could feel the sweat beading on his forehead, “Yeah, um, Mike isn’t a friend, he’s my boyfriend. I’m gay.”  
Mrs Gottesman turned to her husband, “You owe me twenty bucks.”  
“You were taking bets on this!” Lucas had gone from borderline panic-attack to mock-outraged, “How did you even know?”  
“You know son,” his dad replied, “For the son of an IT expert you’re actually quite crappy at deleting your internet history.” Lucas’ face flushed red.  
“What have you tried to delete,” Mike teased, hugging him.  
“Shut up,” Lucas muttered, grinning. His parents were wearing matching grins, Mike Montgomery was a bit young but he was a good fit for Lucas.  
“Right, we are going to get more food, you two can stay up here for a while but we’d like you to come down and eat with us if that’s okay,” with that his mom and dad got up and left, carrying the used takeaway boxes with them.  
The second he heard the door shut, Lucas breathed out and flopped back on the bed, “Oh my God.” His heart was still pounding but that went better than he’d though it would, honestly.  
“You okay?” Mike asked, rubbing his shoulder, “You’re shaking.”  
“Yeah,” he breathed out slowly, “I just wasn’t expecting to have to tell them. Then again apparently I didn’t have to.” He blushed, why was his dad even going through his laptop?  
“So,” Mike whispered, his face so close that Lucas could feel the breath on his cheek, “What have you been looking at? I never had you down for the cheap porn type.” Oh my god, if Lucas’ face got any more red he though his head might explode. “Come on,” Mike encouraged, “I’m not giving up until you give me a site.”  
Lucas whispered something.  
“What?”  
“Archive of Our Own,” he repeated, a fraction louder, “Among other more notorious sites.”  
“Wait, wait,” Mike interrupted, “You spent your weekends reading fan fiction?”  
“Kind of,” Lucas’ blush was only getting worse.  
“Oh my God,” Mike laughed, “You write, don’t you.” He was laughing so much that he rolled off the bed on to the carpet.  
Lucas just pouted t him from the edge of the bed, “I just found out that my dad potentially read all my Professor X/ Magneto slash fics, can you at least try to be a tad more supportive.” Mike just laughed even more, squealing something that might have been “Cherik.”  
***  
It took Mike another twenty minutes and three spring rolls to start looking even remotely serious, “So, I should be getting back,” Mike got up after he’d helped Lucas clear the table.  
“You don’t have to honey,” Mrs Gottesman replied, “Just because me and Henry know about you now doesn’t mean that the sleepover invitation doesn’t still stand.” Lucas stared at her with disbelief, “What? I trust you. But you two should think about getting to bed, it’s getting late.”  
Mike shrugged and headed up to Lucas’ room.  
“You’re still okay with staying, aren’t you? This hasn’t made things weird.” Lucas checked.  
“Lucas, it’s fine. In fact, your parents have honestly given me something to think about.”  
“What kind of something?”  
“Well I wasn’t going to tell my parents this soon but yours took it so well I guess it made me think that maybe I’ll be okay if I come out.”  
Lucas had something really convincing and encouraging to say, he really did. Then Mike whipped his shirt off and he completely forgot what it was. Instead he turned to his dresser and tried to find his least embarrassing pair of pyjamas. The best he had was a navy vest and long blue check pants, it was that or Batman. By the time he was changed, resolutely facing the wall, Mike was stood in only a grey pair of shorts.  
“Sorry, I didn’t really grab that much.”  
“I don’t mind. Do you want me to grab the air bed or?”  
“I’m fine with us sharing,” Mike shot him an absolutely filthy look and climbed under the covers to prove his point. Lucas followed his over, lying down so that his back was flush next to Mike’s chest.  
In terms of plans for the night, all Lucas was going to do was sleep, clearly Mike had other ideas. He slung his hand over Lucas’ hips and started fiddling with the hem of his shirt, sliding his palm up the smooth expanse of skin. Lucas squirmed, “Shhh, we need to sleep,” he tried but his heart wasn’t in it. Mike started to push the hem of the shirt up but Lucas grabbed his hand to stop him.  
“Everything okay?” he asked, moving his hand up to his shoulder.  
“Yeah,” Lucas replied, “I don’t know- I guess I should just point out that you’re the toned, muscled one here, not me.” He curled back in on himself again.  
“Hey, hey,” Mike pulled him around gently so they were facing each other and pecked him on the cheek, “Lucas how many times do I have to tell you? You are absolutely perfect the way you are, okay?” He lowered his hands back to the hem of the shirt but Lucas didn’t try to stop him this time, even when he started to slide the shirt up and over his head. Lucas’ shoulders curled in a little, almost like he was subconsciously trying to cover himself but Mike pushed his hands away, sliding his palms up his pale skin and trailing them with kisses until Lucas looked a bit less shy, grinning just a tiny bit, “Anyway, you’re right, we should probably get to sleep.” He dropped Lucas’ vest to the floor and pulled him in closer, the other boy’s head resting on his chest as they fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for sticking with this, especially after that whole uploading mess a few weeks ago. Speaking off, guess who's sticking to her Wednesday upload schedule for the second week running :-)  
> Also, I suck at titles, if you haven't already noticed.


	6. Unfortunate Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, things start going a bit downhill but Mike and Lucas are still there for each other no matter what.   
> .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop, guess who almost forgot to post today! Sorry, it's a few hours late. Also, not going to lie I've kind of given up on titles at this point.

Okay, Mike was getting frustrated now, this was almost killing him. It had been over a week since the sleepover at Lucas’ and he hadn’t gotten anywhere near his boyfriend, he’d only managed to snatch a few glances in the corridor. Coach had stepped up practise before the big game next week and apparently Lucas had had loads to do with the Yearbook. He swiped his phone open under his desk and typed out a quick message:

_Hey, my place after school? X_

Before sliding it back into his pocket. Mr Lloyd was a notorious hardass who’d confiscate anything that wasn’t a notepad, pen or textbook. Tapping his floor, he looked up at the clock, twenty minutes to go. He felt his phone buzz and waited for Mr Lloyd to turn back to the board so he could slide it out.

_Perfect. Steps, as normal? X_

Mike typed out an affirmative and scribbled in the margins of his notebook, right now he couldn’t care less about energy diagrams of an Exothermic reaction. Finally the bell rang and he almost sprinted out, nearly colliding with Lucas next to the doors. Grabbing his boyfriend by the shoulders, he held on until Lucas managed to slide his backpack onto his shoulder.

“Hey, Aria’s out with the girls so I thought you could come over. We’ll have to walk though, she was supposed to be my ride home.”

“No problem,” Lucas replied, “Mom says I could do with the fresh air.”

“Hey, has your mom said anything about us?” Mike asked.

“Not other than the usual checking up on you. I think she’s starting to ship us,” Lucas looked equal parts happy and disturbed.

“Hey, I was just wondering if you could have a look at my hard drive?” Mike asked.

Lucas raised his eyebrows suggestively, “Sure, Mike, I’ll examine your hard drive any day.”

“Not like that, my laptop’s been broken for a few days and I can’t get it working,” he grinned, “Although, if it doesn’t take too long...”

***

When Mike got home he was pretty surprised to find both of his parents at home, they hadn’t said that they’d be out, but they were also never in at the same time either, “Hey Mom, I invited Lucas back is that okay?”

“Sure, honey, just check that he’s alright with lasagne. I’ll bring snacks up in a moment, okay?” she shouted from the kitchen.

“No, it’s fine mom,” he raced up the stairs with Lucas on his heel before she could grab them. He slammed his bedroom door shut and sighed, “Sit wherever you want. Laptop’s on the desk.” Lucas placed himself at the desk, flipping up the laptop lid and finding out that it was well and truly busted. He pulled up some code.

“Yeah I know what you’ve done, I’ll try and sort it,” he said absentmindedly as Mike appeared behind him and started kissing his neck, “I’m trying to do work. Plus your mom could walk in with food any second,” he protested even as he stretched out his neck to give Mike more access. Mike took this as a yes and stepped in front of him, sliding onto his lap so he could kiss him properly. Lucas gave up trying to type around him and let his hands fall on his boyfriend’s hips.

“Mike, believe me I want to kiss you too but we could get caught any second.”

“I don’t care,” Mike gasped, “Parents never come up here and I’ve missed you so much,” he tried to explain between gasps as Lucas slid a hand up his shirt.

“I’ve missed you too,” Lucas chuckled as Mike leaned back to pull his shirt over his head and shrug Lucas’ varsity jacket off his shoulders, now that was how to get a guy’s attention.

“You have been driving me crazy,” Mike admitted as Lucas kissed up his chest, “Being able to see you and not touch you has been so hard, and that’s not been the only hard thing.” Lucas just raised his eyebrows at the cheesiness, “I’m serious Lucas, you have no idea how many times I’ve got off to the idea of us in your bed.”

Lucas could feel things getting heated now at Mike started to squirm in his lap, “I want you to jerk me off,” Mike gasped finally.

“What,” Lucas replied, his brain short-circuiting.

“I want you to shove those clever hands down my jeans and grab my dick,” Mike explained as he ground down into the other guy’s lap, pulling his face in for a bruising kiss.

“So I brought some – oh wow okay,” Ella slammed the door shut again and the two boys sprang apart.

“Mom, Jesus, knock will you?”She walked back in with a hand over her eyes, slid the cookies onto the edge of the bed and walked out of the room.

“Lasagne will be ready in half an hour, come down once you’re decent, though, I think we need to discuss this.”

Mike slid off Lucas’ lap and slipped on his discarded shirt.

“You okay?” Lucas asked, holding onto his wrist. Under the paper thin skin, he could feel Mike’s pulse racing.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be.” He tried to shrug it off but all the blood had drained out of his face.

Lucas pulled him into a hug, “It’s okay,” he chanted, soothingly, “You said it yourself, they’ll be fine with it.” Mike nodded, he only wished he could be certain.

***

Ella was sat on one of the sofa’s looking surprised but not scarred for life, Byron, on the other hand, was sat next to her stony faced. Mike clutched Lucas’ hand for support as he led him over to the opposite armchair.

“So, erm, I’m not really sure how to do this,” he admitted.

“Just tell us the truth,” Ella encouraged, “We’ve never punished you for that.”

“The truth is this,” he took a deep breath, “I think, no, I know I’m gay. Lucas and I are dating.”

“For how long?” Byron asked, his mask not slipping the tiniest bit.

“A few weeks, since a few days before the house party.”

“A few weeks!” Byron exploded, “You mean that this,” he gestured between the two of them, “Has been going on since before you had all these meet ups. Since before your little ‘sleepover’”

“Dad, don’t say it like that, nothing happened,” Mike protested. He could already tell that this wasn’t going to go well.

“Oh, and we should believe that, should we? You’ve lied to us for years about this.”

“Lied!” Mike was staring to get angry now, “I’ve only known for a few months, this wasn’t a choice!”

“Mike’s right, Byron,” Ella argued, “He has done nothing wrong. We’ve always supported him for whatever he wanted to be, why are you having such a problem?”

“Because he’s not of sound mind!” Byron finally yelled, “He’s depressed, confused, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. And he’s on all of these drugs as well, God knows what they’re doing to him.”

“Bullshit!” Mike yelled, trying his hardest not to smash his fists down onto the table.

“You’re not mature enough to make this kind of decision about who you’re in love with.”

“But you were mature enough to shag your fucking student!” Mike burst out. The room went silent, he hadn’t meant to take it that far.

“Get out of my house,” Byron whispered, barely containing his fury.

“Your house? So now it’s yours when it suits you, is it? Don’t fucking worry, I’m out.” With that he stormed up to his room, threw a few clothes and essentials into a rucksack and turned to Lucas, his lips trembling, “Can I stay with you for a while?”

“Of course,” Lucas pulled him into a hug as the dam finally broke and tears flooded down his cheeks.


	7. Unexpected Allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike resolves the problems with his family and so he and Lucas decide to take the next step in coming out completely. Mike expects a backlash, but finds an ally where he least expected it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I am sorry that this was late, I had a party on Wednesday night and I've only just recovered. Also, this is the last pre-planned/written chapter so next week's might be short/rushed, we'll have to wait and see but hopefully I will upload something.

It took three days before Ella rang him to say that he could come back home, “You dad and I have come to an arrangement.”

“An arrangement?” Mike guard was up, he wasn’t going back there if Lucas was banned from the house.

“Yeah,” Ella sighed, “I’ve spoken to your dad. What he said was out of line and I’ve told him that. I also told him to take his stuff and move into my apartment so I can move back home.”

“Wait, you what” Mike’s brain couldn’t quite keep up, he’d been expecting a curfew or an open-door policy.

“I told him to leave,” she admitted, “I love you, Mike, no matter what and I’ve always encouraged you to be yourself. If your dad can’t see that then he’s the problem and he’s the one that has to go, not you”

“So I can come back?” he grinned, Ella could hear it even over the phone.

“Of course you can, honey.”

                “And Lucas?”

                “He can’t exactly move in but he’s free to come around whenever he likes.”

                Mike couldn’t stop smiling, “Is tonight all right?”

                Ella held a celebratory dinner for him, Lucas and her. Mike noted that Aria was notoriously absent, he knew she didn’t like Lucas but he’d thought that she’d at least support him when he needed it.

***

                Lucas borrowed his mom’s car to take him to school the next day. Just as they were coming up to the front of the school, Mike told him to pull up, “Just here, on the kerb for a sec.”

                “Is everything okay?” Lucas grabbed his hands.

                “Yeah, I just thought, now that we’re both out to our parents, maybe we could take it one step further?” he tried to explain but he didn’t know how to say it.

                “You mean, come out to the whole school,” Lucas confirmed.

                “Yeah,” Mike looked sheepish, “It’s okay if you don’t want to, though, I can wait.”

                Lucas’ face split into a grin, “It’s fine, I’m ready, I just wasn’t sure if you would be after...everything. Plus, you have more to lose that I do.”

                “If anything it’s made me more determined,” Mike admitted, “My mom’s proved to me that sometimes you only need one ally, not all of them.”

                “I’m with you on that one, but how are we going to do this? The school is huge, do we put it in the yearbook? Do we Facebook it?”

                “I have a better idea,” Lucas just stared at him, “Get out of the car.” Now he was grinning.

                They just stood there, on the pavement facing each other, “You ready?” Mike asked.

“Whenever you are, darling.”

                And then Mike leaned forwards to kiss him, not just on the cheek but hard on his lips, his tongue sliding into his mouth as he gripped his jacket and pulled him closer.

They could tell it had worked, the whole school had gone silent. Instead of turning to face them, Lucas just pecked him on the cheek and whispered, “Meet you in the cafeteria,” before leisurely walking to his next lesson.

Mike went to follow him when he felt a hand on his arm, he turned around to see Aria looking furious, “Let go of me,” he hissed and twisted his arm away.

“What the hell was that?” she hissed back.

“That was me kissing my boyfriend, not that you’d care.”

“Mike, I told you that he was dangerous!”

“You know what, Aria,” he spun around to face her, trying not to speak too loudly, “I supported you with Fitz, I supported you over the whole Connor thing, I even supported you and that damn pink streak. All I’m asking is for you to support me once, just let me be happy, okay?” He didn’t wait for her to reply, he just spun on his heel and left.

Aria turned back to Emily, “I swear to God, Lucas is planning something,” then she stopped, noticing the look on Emily’s face, “What?”

“Nothing,” Emily shrugged, “I just think that your brother needs a bit of support at the moment, that’s all. I’ve been through what he’s going through and it’s not easy to do, especially not on your own,” she carried on walking, leading Aria into the school, “Also, let’s not forget that Lucas was being blackmailed by A as well, he’s an ally, not an enemy,” Aria looked like she wanted to argue but Emily carried on before she could, “I’m not asking you to ask Lucas to live with you or anything, just think about what I’ve said about Mike. He needs you right now, I know it.”

***

Mike hovered around the door to the changing rooms, not daring to go in. It had only six or so hours since he and Lucas had come out but he knew that it would be around the whole school by now. They’d mostly hidden in the Quad at break and avoided all of the questions but they’d have to be answered sooner or later. He checked his watch, five minutes until the actual practice started, if he waited another few minutes then he could get changed once everyone else had left. Opening the door carefully, he looked around and checked that it was empty before scurrying over to a hidden corner and getting changed as fast as he could so that coach wouldn’t come looking for him.

Finally, he made it on to the field, everyone looked up as he walked over and a few even opened their mouths to speak but coach jumped in and told them all to start warming up “in silence.” Mike breathed a sigh of relief; it looked like he had one friend, at least.

Sadly, practice couldn’t carry on forever and they had to go back inside and change sooner or later. Mike decided to bypass the showers and go straight back to his clothes in the hope that he could change and leave whilst everyone else was still showering. His stuff looked mercifully untouched and he breathed a sigh of relief, he’d been expecting at least one insult scrawled on his backpack. He was just tying his last shoe lace, thinking he was home free, when he heard a cough behind him. Shit. Turning around, he was faced with the rest of the lacrosse team lined up, staring at him accusingly. He curled into himself, fearing the worst.

“Dude,” Noel was stood front and centre, “What’s with this whole Lucas thing?” Mike braced himself, “I mean, come on, why didn’t you tell us?”

“Wait, what?” Mike could feel his brain turning to Jell-O; he hadn’t been prepared for this.

“We thought we were your friends,” damn, Noel actually sounded disappointed. The rest of the team chorused their agreement.

“Why didn’t I tell you?” Mike asked, sounding slightly hysterical, “Maybe because I was terrified that you were going to kick the crap out of me?”

“C’mon, we’d never do that to you, you’re one of us,” Gary reassured him.

“Really?” Mike finally uncoiled.

“Really,” the others grinned at him.

“So,” Noel teased, “Come on, tell us what’s been going on. How did you two get together anyway?”

“We met at counselling and got on really well so he invited me back to his but it was the day after that really hard training session so my shoulders were a mess. He offered to massage them and, well....” he trailed off, scratching the back of his head and grinning softly.

Everyone fell about laughing, “No, don’t laugh,” Noel mock-reprimanded them, “Look at his face, he’s in love with him.”

Mike’s face turned bright red at the chorus of “awws” thrown his way.

“Never mind that,” Andy interrupted, stopping laughing for a second, “What I want to know is what you’ve been _doing_.” Like hyenas smelling prey, all the boys stopped laughing and sat up, staring at him expectantly.

“Nothing,” Mike answered, he could tell by the sea of raised eyebrows that no one believed him, “No, really, I mean it, absolutely nothing like that has happened at all. I mean, neither of us really know what we’re doing and the timing hasn’t been right. There was one point where I thought we might do something but...”

“But what?” they were pretty much hanging on to his every word.

“Well, my mom walked in and...” Nope, now they were back to laughing.

Despite the giggling fits, they managed to get changed sooner or later and trail out one by one. Mike somehow managed to be last, he was just bending down to pick up his rucksack when he saw someone walk up to him. Looking up, he saw Noel standing over him, twisting his hands.

“Hey, Noel, did you want to speak to me about something or....” Mike trailed off, not sure what to expect.

“Yeah, I erm, I just wanted to say that I get what you’re going through mostly so...”

“Wait,” Mike butted in, “You’re gay?”

“Bi, actually,” Noel continued, “But I have a bit more, well, _experience_ than you do so I just thought that if either you or Lucas needed any advice...let’s just say I’m here to help. Okay?”

Mike nodded to him and Noel clapped him on the shoulder and left.

***

Lucas was waiting for him by the steps as usual, standing up to pull him into a hug and peck him and the lips, “Was everything okay at practice?” he pushed a piece of hair out of his boyfriend’s eyes and checked his face for any signs or concern, or bruising.

“Better that okay,” Mike grinned, “We have the support o everyone one the team.”

“That’s great!” Lucas exclaimed, pulling Mike into another hug, “I thought for a second that you were going to get hurt. I’m glad they all understood.”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me, it looks like one person on the team is an ally in more ways than one,” Lucas just looked at him questioningly, “Noel Kahn, turns out he’s bi. Also he’s offered to give us any _advice_.”

Now that did make Lucas raise his eyebrows, “When you say advice do you mean in person or...”

Mike chuckled, “No I think he just meant verbal advice but the offer’s there if we ever need it.”


	8. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas plans a surprise for Mike's birthday but he needs a little bit of extra help first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so firstly sorry for not posting last week but I was only half way through this chapter and I thought it wouldn't be long enough. Of course now it turns out that the whole chapter is massive and I completely underestimated it. So, yeah, here's a massive chapter for you guys. Also, the long-promised-for smut. Finally. Sorry about that, this was meant to be all smut then it grew feelings and plot.  
> Secondly, this is the second to last chapter and I'm not even going to promise that there will be an update next week because I have two cons and masses of work that I'm neglecting. However, there's no cliff-hanger and I'm quite happy with how this chapter ended so we'll get there in the end.

Lucas sat at his desk, clicking absentmindedly through eBay. He only had a week and a half until Mike’s birthday and he had to get him something perfect. He’d tried gym equipment but Mike had it hall, then he’d looked at clothes but he didn’t know what size or what was in fashion, then came the influx of funny gifts but none of them were sincere enough to show how he felt. Sighing dramatically, he seriously considered texting Aria but he knew she wouldn’t reply.

Finally, his mom came in with food on a tray, “I had no idea if you were working or playing video games so I thought I’d bring up your dinner just in case.”

He just nodded so she placed the tray on the bed and turned around but didn’t leave, “Is Mike not here tonight?” Her son’s boyfriend had been an almost constant presence over the last three weeks yet he hadn’t showed up for the last few days, “Is there a reason why not?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Lucas replied, absentmindedly.

“Oh, honey, did you two break up,” she crouched down next to his chair so that their eyes were level and pulled him into a hug.

“What? No, of course we haven’t. It’s just...,” he paused, not sure how to say the next bit without sounding stupid, “I can’t think of anything to get him for his birthday. I’ve been looking for days now and still nothing.” Sighing again, he pulled up Google and typed ‘What to get your boyfriend for his birthday,’ before deciding that it was probably not a good idea to open up any of the results with his mom sat right next to him.

“Well,” she suggested, “If it’s any consolation, I never knew what to get your dad until we’d been married nearly four years. Good gift giving is a skill that has to be learnt, I’m afraid.”

“But what if I mess it up?” Lucas whined.

“So what? Then you have something to laugh about in a few years’ time. Anyway, Mike’s a nice boy, he’s not going to dump you or anything, he’ll probably just be happy that you got him something.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Now, eat your chicken before it goes cold, and turn off that computer for half an hour, you’ll give yourself a headache.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Lucas powered down the laptop and slumped onto the bed, pulling the tray closer to him as the smell of roast chicken almost overpowered him.

***

It was almost two hours later when his Dad walked in to collect the tray. He tried to be as nonchalant as possible but Lucas knew that he was gearing up for some father-son time.

“So, your mom tells me you’re having some trouble buying a gift for Mike.”

“Yeah, I still haven’t found anything.”

“Well, I thought, what about something you could do as a couple,” he offered, “It’ll give you some time to be together away from school. Maybe a weekend away? Me and your mom trust you both so we wouldn’t mind. Or maybe dinner or a movie or something like that. It may not be an object but it means a lot. Hell, what do I know, it’s just an idea, you don’t have to take it.”

“No, Dad, that’s actually not a bad idea, I hadn’t thought of that. Yeah, I’ll look for something like that.” His dad left, grinning.

Lucas couldn’t help grinning as well, at least he had some kind of plan now. But what could he and Mike do? Cinema was a definite and The Grill would be perfect for a meal but what else could they do to make it really special? Just then, his phone pinged with a text from the man himself.

_Hey, I miss you. Parents won’t disturb us, you should come over and sped some time with me * wink emoji*._

Lucas rolled his eyes, really? That was one step away from full on eggplant emoji. He’d love to go over but the memory of what happened last time they got handsy at Mike’s was still fresh in his memory.

He sat up straight, that was it! The perfect way to round up date night. Grabbing his phone, he pulled up Facebook Messenger and sent a text to Noel Kahn.

_Can you meet me tomorrow? I have a question._

***

He tapped his foot on the sidewalk, Noel was meant to be here ten minutes ago. They’d arranged to meet up behind the school building after last period and Lucas had raced there after Math but the other boy wasn’t here.

“Hey,” a voice called behind him, as it came closer he saw that it was Noel, “Sorry, apparently my Chemistry teacher took exception to 12/50 and made me arrange to retake.”

“You got twelve out of fifty,” Lucas asked, incredulous.

“Yeah, it was a hard test.”

“Isn’t it all multiple choice?” Lucas pointed out, Noel just nodded in reply, “I mean, statistically you should have been able to guess at least a third.”

Noel just shrugged and pulled his jacket on, it was getting colder as the nights got shorter, “Anyway, you said you had a question for me. I’m assuming this is about Mike?”

“Yeah, it’s more advice that I want really,” Lucas admitted, “I have this idea but I’m not quite sure how to pull it off.”

Noel just smirked like the smug bastard that he was, “So, it’s _that_ kind of advice you need is it?”

“Yeah,” Lucas could feel his face turning bright red under Noel’s inquisitive gaze.

“So, what is it you want to know?”

“It’s, er...well, sort of like...erm,” Noel let him stutter for a few minutes before he butted in.

“Come on, you can tell me, we’re all in this together. Wait, have you two actually done anything at all?”

“Yeah, of course,” Lucas was instantly on the defensive, you didn’t grow up unpopular without developing a serious mistrust of the jocks.

“Go on then, like what? Kissing, making out, mast..”

“Okay, you know what, if you’re going to make this difficult then I’m leaving,” Lucas threw his hands up in the air and turned to go.

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Sorry, I wasn’t meaning to make you uncomfortable, I just don’t like being that serious,” Noel scratched his head, suddenly feeling awkward, “Also, I know I offered to help you but you guys are the first couple I’ve ever tried giving advice to and I’m not sure what to do.”

“Just try and give me some basic tips with as little embarrassment as possible, if I wanted cringe worthy, I’d go and ask my parents.”

Noel laughed, “Yeah, maybe don’t do that. I’ll try to help but you have to be as honest as possible. It might seem like I’m prying but I want to make sure that you’re not speeding ahead and that you both feel okay, alright?”

“Yeah, that’s fine, I guess,” Lucas took a deep breath in and tried to push down the blush in his cheeks, “Well, we’ve been kissing for ages, with and without tongue, and we’ve been making out for a few weeks.”

“Nudity-wise?” Lucas suddenly felt like he was in a job interview.

“He’s seen my shirtless and just in my boxers but that’s all.”

“So that’s all you’ve done?”

“Well, he was at my house a few days ago and we started, y’know, just with hands an stuff...”

“So you’ve jerked each other off.”

“Y-yeah,” Now he was starting to doubt his plan, “I know we’ve not done much but...”

“No, actually, you’ve done okay. I mean, I could have guessed that you’d both take it slow but I’m impressed. Now, what is it you wanted to ask me?”

“Well, it’s his birthday next week and I thought that maybe I would...” Lucas trailed off, half hoping that Noel would offer to finish his sentence.

“You’re not ready to do it unless you’re ready to say it.”

Well, okay then. He took a deep breath in and tried not to talk in a rush, “I want to suck him off.” Breathing out again, he felt relieved. That was one hurdle over and done with.

Noel just nodded, “Not a bad plan, actually kind of wish I’d thought of that. Good idea, coming to me, though, you might need some pointers.” Lucas just looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue, “Okay so first you need to check that he’s okay with it, before you do anything. I don’t want to sound like a guidance councillor or anything but consent is really important, okay?” Lucas nodded, “Secondly, watch your teeth, you want to wrap your lips around them like so,” he demonstrated, “Because believe me you do not want them to get in the way. Secondly, condoms, again, don’t want to sound like a teacher but you won’t believe how many STD’s can be spread from parent to child or just through the environment. Check or Protect.”

Lucas chuckled, “You saw that on a poster around school, didn’t you.”

“It was a funny poster,” Noel shrugged, “Also, don’t try to take him all at once. I’m not saying I’ve been looking at your boyfriend’s junk but he doesn’t exactly appear small,” Mike tried not to comment but he couldn’t help grinning a little bit, “So apparently I was right. It’s your first time and your throat is going to be quite tight so go slow and stop when you think you’ve reached your limit, use your hands for anything else. Choking does _not_ look sexy.”

“Anything else I should know?”

“If you do decide not to use a rubber, make sure you know if you’re going to swallow or not. He’s going to come fast and there’s quite a lot of it; believe me, you do not want to be taken by surprise,” Noel winced at that particular memory and Lucas couldn’t help chuckling, “That’s everything, I think, but feel free to message me if you think of anything else.”

“I will do, thanks,” Lucas replied before setting off back home. That talk had given him a lot to think about, honestly he hadn’t thought that it was going to be this complicated, but he was determined to give it a go. All he had to do now was plan the rest of the date.

***

They tumbled through the door, giggling. The film had been great but ridiculously stereotypical and they hadn’t stopped laughing since they left the cinema, they’d got some really strange looks from everyone at the Grill. The food had been great too and Lucas could almost breathe a sigh of relief, everything had gone more than perfectly so far; he’d even got his parents out of the house for an entire evening, they’d gone to visit his aunt and wouldn’t be back until the next day.

“Thanks for tonight,” Mike kissed him briefly, sobering up, “It’s been amazing. Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay over?”

“Yeah, I told you, my parents are out until tomorrow,” Lucas raised his eyebrows, “And anyway, the evening doesn’t have to end now if you don’t want. It’s up to you though,” he tacked on the end, just to make sure.

Mike grinned and slipped closer to him, pulling him in close by the waist, “And what do you mean by that?”

Lucas shivered as his breath ghosted over the shell of his ear and mike started to push open the buttons on his shirt to nibble down his neck and across his collar bones, pushing him hard up against the wall.

“Ahhh,” all Lucas could hear was his breath, coming heavy and fast, in the silent hallway, “Upstairs,” he managed, finally, in between pants. Mike conceded, kissing him hard on the lips once before pulling away and almost dragging him into the bedroom by the wrist in his haste.

Lucas had barely got inside the room before Mike’s hands were shrugging his jacket off his shoulders and throwing it somewhere off to one side. He paused once to look in his boyfriend’s eyes, fingers paused on his shirt buttons, before Lucas nodded and he relieved him of that as well.

Lucas had no intention of this being one sided and he set to work with equal fervour until they were both stood there, facing one another, clad only in their boxers.

Mike surged forwards again, pushing Lucas up against the wardrobe and kissing him again, prising his lips apart with his tongue, as his hands moved around his ribs, down to his waist and down even further until he was cupping his ass, squeezing gently as Lucas bucked his hips against Mike’s. His moans were already being swallowed by the kiss but Mike could feel his boyfriend’s interest pressing against his thigh.

He pulled away, finally, leaving a Lucas a panting mess leaning against the wardrobe, knees weak. Hooking a finger in his boxer briefs, he pulled Lucas over to the bed, pulling him down on top of him.

Lucas grinned down at him, swivelling his hips and watching Mike’s head drop back against the pillows, latching on to his neck and sucking a deep purple mark into the skin. He slid a hand across his boyfriend’s hips, briefly over his crotch and then up to his chest, tweaking a nipple before pinching it hard and listening to Mike groaning and writing beneath him, lips still moving in slow, languorous circles, enjoying the feel of Mike’s erection swelling beneath him.

Mike just kept his head tipped back, letting his boyfriend have free reign until the knot in his stomach started becoming close to unbearable. He pulled one of his hands off Lucas’ hip and slid it between them, massaging their dicks together until they were both squirming and gasping.

“W-wait,” Lucas panted eventually, suddenly remembering that he’d actually had a plan.

“You okay?” Mike pushed himself up onto his forearms and reaching out to run a reassuring hand through his boyfriend’s hair, “Are we moving too fast? We can stop if you want.”

“No, I don’t want to stop,” Mike crawled into his boyfriend’s lap to kiss him firmly, “I just wanted to try something else.”

“Like what?” Mike smirked. Lucas didn’t even reply, he just pulled Mike’s knees up until his feet were planted flat on the bed and then slipped down until he was nestled between his thighs.

“This,” he searched Mike’s eyes, looking for any sign of worry.

Mike’s mouth was suddenly too dry to reply, the sight of Lucas knelt between his legs was almost too much on its own. In the end, he could only nod his consent.

“You sure?” Lucas asked, one more time, his hand resting on the elastic of his underwear.

“Yes,” Mike gasped, finally, “Please.”

That was all Lucas needed to pull the boxers down and off his legs, biting his lip and just staring at Mike’s cock. He’d felt it before but this was the first time that he’d come face to face with it. He was still staring when Mike cleared his throat to get his attention.

“Is everything okay? I mean am I..it okay?” he stuttered, blushing.

“Better than okay,” Mike reassured him before finally ducking his head down and licking the tip experimentally, swirling his tongue around and trying to get used to the almost salty taste. Mike had thrown his head back again, moaning and squirming against the mattress so that Lucas had to use his hands to pin his hips down. Mike’s hands were clutching the bed sheets as hard as he could before Lucas, fearing for their safety, reached up and twined Mike’s hands in his hair.

Finally feeling ready to go a step further, he tried his best to cover his teeth with his lips and then sink down further, still using his tongue to lap at the shaft, until he’d taken it about as far as he comfortably could. Remembering that Noel hand said, he pulled one hand off Mike’s hips and placed it nearer to the base of his shaft where his mouth couldn’t reach.

“Ohhh, are you...ahhhh..okay?” Mike gasped from the top of the bed.

Lucas tried to reply but, obviously, couldn’t, all he could make was a humming sound. Suddenly, Mike’s hips jerked and he almost screamed so Lucas tried it again. Mike’s jaw was clenched but Lucas could still hear the moans deep in his throat as his hips carried on jerking, regardless of Lucas’ hand holding them down.

Under his boyfriend’s ministrations, he didn’t last long, “Lucas...I’m.,” Lucas didn’t need to hear the end of the sentence to know when to pull off and replace his lips with his other hand and ,within seconds, Mike was coming over his hands. Slumping back onto the pillows, he pulled Lucas back up so that he could lazily jerk him off. Lucas had been so aroused by the sight of Mike and the sounds he’d been making that it took and almost embarrassingly short time for him to come too.

He left Mike lying back on the bed whilst he grabbed a cloth and cleaned them both up before throwing it in the sink and returning to his room and climbing back into bed next to his boyfriend. Pulling the blankets over them, Lucas settled down, facing Mike, “So, did I do alright?”

Mike just pulled him in for a lazy kiss, “You were amazing, I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present, or a better boyfriend.” He put his arms round him and pulled him closer and they just led like that for a while, listening to each other breath before they drifted off to sleep.

 


End file.
